


Hostage Situation

by wendelah1



Series: Demons [1]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-21
Updated: 2013-02-21
Packaged: 2017-11-30 00:37:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/693352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wendelah1/pseuds/wendelah1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A character study/fill-in for episode 4.23 "Demons." An explanation for how CGB Spender became the biological father to Fox Mulder, and for why Samantha was taken instead of Fox.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hostage Situation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [amalnahurriyeh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/amalnahurriyeh/gifts).



> Spoiler for the series through "Demons," and beyond.
> 
> Thanks to my friend idella for her encouragement and her helpful suggestions.

"I am your mother and I will not tolerate any more of your questions." Her heart racing, Teena Mulder ran up the stairs into her bedroom, her hand still stinging from the slap she'd given her son. 

She sat down heavily on the bed and tried to calm herself. How dare Fox speak to her that way, accuse her of cheating. His eyes looked wild; fresh blood trickled down his face. My God. What had he done to himself? And why? 

Teena felt trapped. What would Fox do if he did find out why Samantha was taken instead of him? The truth was Bill Mulder was Fox's father in every way that mattered to her.

Teena was in her sophomore year the night she went home with Charles. They'd met at an off-campus party. He and Bill had come to the event together. Although she had danced with both of them, she'd left with Charles. He was an attractive older man, who claimed to have a position in the State Department. She was already tipsy when he suggested they leave early and go to his apartment. They shared a bottle of red wine and talked about the new administration. Finally, she felt like an adult.

The sex was not planned, but she let things get out of hand. Their coupling was quick and messy and not something she wanted to repeat. If that was typical, sex was vastly over-rated. Ironically, a few months earlier, her relationship with her high school sweetheart had ended in part because she wouldn't go all the way with him. 

"It's too risky, Frank. I don't want to get pregnant." Why she couldn't say those simple words to Charles, she didn't know.

Afterward he'd said he'd call, but he never did. Teena was relieved. She chalked the whole thing up as a learning experience. After all, losing one's virginity to a cad wasn't a tragedy. 

She had begun dating Bill, who'd asked for her number. To prove to herself that she could put the unpleasantness with Charles behind her, she accepted Bill's invitations. Bill was infatuated with her, she could tell. He was a nice man, with a good job. Then, a few weeks later, she missed her period. She was certain Charles used a rubber but it must have leaked. She kept going to her classes. Maybe this problem would just go away.

When she missed another period, she knew she'd have to tell someone. But who? Her friends were all the same age as she. Most were still virgins. The nurse at the infirmary would tell her parents. They'd be furious. They might even send her away, make her give the child up. In 1961, there weren't many options for a young, unmarried woman who'd gotten herself in trouble.

Bill was older. Maybe he knew a doctor or someone who could take care of it. He was shocked and angry at the news but she'd expected that. When she told him who was the father, she broke down. He'd gotten a funny look on his face when she said Charles's name, but he'd calmed down and promised he'd make some calls.

The following weekend he took her to a Continental restaurant in Georgetown, a notch above their usual places. She wore her nice silk dress, the pearl necklace that was her graduation gift and borrowed some kitten heels from her roommate, who helped her put her hair up into a loose chignon. She wished she had a fur but her good wool coat would have to do.

"You look so glamorous, Teena," her friend Mary sighed. "I wish I had a boyfriend with an important job and money to take me to fancy restaurants."

Teena managed a smile.

That night over an expensive candlelit dinner she wasn't sure he could afford, Bill took a diamond ring out of his jacket and proposed. An abortion was illegal and risky, he argued. He loved her; if she agreed to marry him, he'd raise this child as his own. Eventually, he hoped they'd have more children. Not having any better solution, she accepted his offer. On Monday Teena withdrew from her classes. They were married two weeks later by a justice of the peace.

On the surface, they lived an ordinary life. They moved to Chilmark. She had Fox; a few year later, Samantha came along. It was awkward having Charles as part of her social set, but living on the island created a welcome buffer zone between Bill's work and their home life. During the crowded summer season, they retreated to the cottage in Rhode Island. Bill spent more time in Washington than at home and more time drinking than she felt necessary. Dinner parties often ended with the men talking behind closed doors about subjects that were never discussed.

If Charles suspected that Fox was his child, he never brought it up with her, not until that fateful night in Quonochontaug.

It was surreal. All they would tell her was that Bill, Charles, and other government officials were being blackmailed by a foreign government. They were taking family members as hostages to ensure future cooperation. Charles and Bill didn't know the exact date it would happen, but there was nothing they could do to stop it. They were lying about something, she was certain of it. When Charles told them that his poor wife had agreed to go for the Spender family, therefore in fairness, Samantha would be sent from theirs, she began screaming.

A doctor came and gave her pills to make her calmer. She thought the children were given some, too. It made life bearable. 

Her son was right about one thing. It wasn't her choice for them to take Samantha. She hadn't known that Bill had originally chosen Fox.

She hadn't even known there was a choice to be made.

**Author's Note:**

> The image screen capture is by Chrisnu, the edit is mine.


End file.
